Here’s a look at the Top 11 Most Viewed Articles of the Week on IRIS.xyz, March 12-16, 2018

Click the headline to read the full article. Enjoy!

In recent years, the commoditization of investment advice has forced an increasing number of financial advisors into offering more comprehensive financial planning as a way to add more value to the client relationship. — Dan Sondhelm

Happy Bull Market Birthday! Today is the ninth birthday of this equity bull market, a rather impressive run that has generated roughly 5x in returns within an economy that has grown at a yawn-inducing pace. As the third longest bull market in history, this is an impressive day in an otherwise unimpressive week in the markets. — Lenore Elle Hawkins

It’s been a tough run for fixed income products lately. With interest rates on the rise and a stock market that, despite its new wave of intense volatility, has continued to fly high, the yield on fixed income products has fallen from a stable 5-6% down to below 3% today … — Kelly Ye

If you are like many people, you are probably looking forward to the time when you can retire. It marks the end of an era and serves as a reward for all the hard work you have done over the years. Retirement is a time you can truly enjoy yourself and reap the rewards of all those years of being in the workforce, no matter what your chosen profession.— Jim Black

The question we get asked most often by advisors who have taken the first step in recognizing that their future success lies with acquiring more female clients is this: “Where do I find women with money?” Here’s what we tell them … — Paulette Filion and Judy Paradi

Back in the 80s and 90s, when Soft Cell and Nirvana were flying high in the charts, accountancy companies and auditors sold you a set of “best practice processes”, often described as an “operating model”. — Timothy Hughes​​​​​​​

If you haven’t heard, one of the big changes to your taxes next year will be the increase in the standard deduction. The deduction for married couples filing jointly has nearly doubled, climbing from $13,000 to $24,000. Single taxpayers and those who are married and file separately are seeing a similar jump from $6,500 to the new $12,000 standard deduction. — Jeff Bernier​​​​​​​

In order to be efficient, our minds rely on many mental shortcuts. The majority of shortcuts serve us very well, however there is a downside. They can play havoc on our decision-making process, especially in the financial realm. — Jay Mooreland​​​​​​​

What do you do when the market takes a turn for the worst? Do you wait for the storm to pass and simply do nothing – or do you reach out to clients and reassure them things will get better? — Don Connelly​​​​​​​